Chapter 163 Gathering at the Small Inn

Pushing the window open just a tiny bit, creating a narrow slit, Bryan peered at the scene outside through the gap.

Belinda, the veiled employer of Candice, had only a pair of sapphire-like eyes exposed, which were filled with a peculiar expression as if she were searching for something. She walked along the corridor where the room shared by Bryan and Emily was located, looking around with a curious gaze.

Behind Belinda, Candice and a few members of the Blazing Fire Mercenary Corps came rushing over in a panic. Candice, wearing an expression of utmost vigilance, had one hand pressed against the magic sword behind her, carefully scanning the surroundings as if fearing that some accident might befall Belinda.

Only after the other members of the Blazing Fire Mercenary Corps surrounded Belinda in the center did Candice let out a sigh of relief. She then reproached Belinda, who was still looking around anxiously, "Miss Belinda, I hope you can give us a heads-up the next time you decide to walk around. We are merely hired to protect your safety, and we have no intention of restricting your freedom. There is no need for you to suddenly bolt away like that!"

Veiled from head to toe, Belinda frowned, her slender, crescent-moon-like eyebrows knitting together as her beautiful eyes swept about in deep confusion. Only after Candice finished her displeased words did Belinda seem to snap back to reality, apologizing to Candice in a sweet and gentle voice, "I'm sorry. I thought I saw an acquaintance for a moment, so I rushed over in a hurry to take a look. It turns out it was just my eyes playing tricks on me."

At these words, Candice appeared thoroughly puzzled and said to Belinda in astonishment, "There was clearly nobody here just a moment ago. How could you have seen a figure here? That's simply too strange."

"Oh, perhaps it's just a hallucination caused by my lack of sleep recently. I am very sorry." Belinda's bright eyes glanced briefly toward the room where Bryan and Emily were staying, and she casually offered this reply to Candice.

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed from behind. A plump, middle-aged woman walked over with a cheerful smile, holding a ledger in her hand. Upon arriving, she first bowed politely and then apologized profusely, "Respected guests, you must have come here for lodging. I had to step away for a moment just now, and I am deeply sorry to keep you all waiting. Please come with me to the front desk to register."

"To think there was no one tending to this inn halfway through—it's truly unsettling. Besides, the environment here doesn't seem all that great either. Miss Belinda, should we perhaps change to another inn?" Candice seemed to harbor some aversion to the place and suggested to her employer, Belinda, with a sour expression.

Belinda, whose face remained wrapped in a veil, swept her bright eyes around the surroundings once more and replied, "No need. We'll stay right here. I think this place is quite nice."

"Very well then." Candice had no choice but to obey her employer, replying with a hint of disappointment.

"Excuse me, who occupies the rooms along this corridor?" Belinda turned around and asked the plump innkeeper as if inquiring quite casually.

"I am terribly sorry, but we cannot disclose such information. That concerns our guests' privacy, my apologies!" The innkeeper proved to be quite principled. Although her expression suggested she was very keen on retaining Candice and her party, she refused to budge on matters of principle.

Nodding, Belinda did not pursue the matter further and said softly, "Very well. Are there any vacant rooms left along this corridor? If so, I shall stay right here."

The woman's eyes lit up. She quickly flipped through the ledger in her hand, pointed to a room not far from Bryan and Emily's, and hurriedly said, "There is one vacant room right here, though the conditions are not the best in the inn. If the esteemed young lady doesn't mind, you may occupy this one immediately."

"No problem, I'll take this one. Candice, you can handle the rest of the arrangements," Belinda said softly. With a bright gaze that fleetingly lingered on the door of Bryan and Emily's room, she took the lead and walked toward the designated room.

The innkeeper had long since realized that Belinda was the true leader of this group. Seeing her walk over, she swiftly pulled out a bunch of keys and unlocked the door just as Belinda arrived, letting her inside.

"You few go inside first to protect the miss. I'll go take care of the registration and arrange other rooms for you around Miss Belinda's," Candice instructed the remaining members of the Blazing Fire Mercenary Corps after seeing Belinda enter. She then followed the delighted, plump proprietress back to the front desk to handle the check-in procedures.

Once the members of the Blazing Fire Mercenary Corps had also filed into Belinda's room, Bryan closed the window slit and said in a low voice to Emily beside him, "The abnormal stirring of the Bone Staff must have something to do with this Belinda. Her identity is extremely suspicious."

Emily had caught a glimpse of the earlier commotion as well. Hearing Bryan's words now, she immediately nodded in agreement and said with a solemn expression, "It seems this Belinda is likely connected to the necromancer you killed. Since you obtained all of his soul memories, surely you have some impression of this Belinda?"

Frowning as he carefully searched his memories, Bryan finally shook his head with certainty and said, "No. In Clayton's memories, this Belinda never once appeared. I truly cannot understand why she was able to sense the Bone Staff."

"How did Clayton obtain this Bone Staff in the first place?" Emily paused, collected her thoughts, and asked a different question.

"He received it as a reward from the upper echelons of the Calamity Church after completing a certain number of missions. He only knew how to use the Bone Staff, but he had no idea of its origins," Bryan replied after closing his eyes to recall the detail.

"It appears this Belinda must hail from the Calamity Church. Perhaps she showed up here precisely because of Clayton's disappearance. We must be careful," Emily said thoughtfully and gravely.

Belinda was Candice's employer. If she truly belonged to the Calamity Church, Bryan found it puzzling why she would hire Candice to protect her safety upon coming to Valen City. However, the fact that Belinda could sense the Bone Staff indicated that her background was by no means simple. Connecting this to the evil nature of the Calamity Church as described by Emily, Bryan began to ponder deeply.

"This Belinda must have grown suspicious of the rooms along this corridor. I think we should leave temporarily, change rooms, and continue to observe her from elsewhere," Bryan suggested, looking at Emily after a moment of thought.

Nodding, Emily said with confidence, "No problem. The owner of this inn is one of our own; we can switch to any room we like."

No wonder Emily had chosen this particular inn upon arriving in Valen City—it turned out the proprietress was also a member of the Dark Veil. It seemed the intelligence network of the Dark Veil was indeed vast.

Taking advantage of the time before Candice returned and while Belinda and the mercenaries remained inside the room, Bryan and Emily quietly left their quarters, slipped out through the opposite side, and made their way to a spacious hall on the upper floor. There, they leaned against a window that offered a view of the front courtyard.

Whatever device Emily operated, the middle-aged female innkeeper cheerfully appeared in the hall within moments. Wearing her habitual professional smile, she walked over, bowed slightly to Emily, and asked with a grin, "Lady Emily, do you have any instructions?"

"Sister Yilian, please arrange a new room for us—preferably one at a safe distance from that Belinda, yet with a clear view of her room," Emily requested amicably with a smile.

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged woman named Yilian looked somewhat surprised. After a moment of thought, she said, "Three other people just entered as well, and they also requested a room with a view of Miss Belinda's."

A thought struck Bryan. Remembering the three individuals who had been trailing Candice all along, he promptly asked, "Where are they staying now? Have rooms been arranged for them?"

"Rest assured, I deliberately kept the room that overlooks Belinda's quarters vacant. The moment I saw the look in that Belinda's eyes as she gazed toward your room, I knew there was something amiss with that woman," Yilian explained with a smile, glancing at Bryan with a look that seemed to say, *Consider it handled.*

"Sister Yilian has rendered many great services to our organization over the years. Although she lacks martial or magical skills, her ability to read people and observe details is exceptional, which is why I always stay here whenever I'm in Valen City," Emily explained with a smile, shooting a sideways glance at Bryan.

"Alright, Lady Emily, you don't need to shower me with so much praise. I'll go arrange the new rooms for you right away. As for those newcomers who arrived today, I'll keep a close eye on them for you and report back immediately if anything happens," Yilian said cheerfully before turning on her heel and swaying out of the room.

"Alright, let us prepare ourselves as well. We must keep a strict watch on that woman. Uncovering her true identity might just bring us immense benefits," Emily said.